Family Arrangements
by celrock
Summary: Peter and Zack have a discussion about the arrangements of their friends families, but in particular, why most of the people they knew had siblings, while Angelica, always remained an only child.


Author's Note: I must say the idea came for this story after being asked the most ridiculous question concerning Rugrats, but while I politely responded to this user via PM's and explained the reasoning behind why this was the case, I got to thinking of a situation, where two characters, in this case, OC's, brought up the same question. In particular, two OC's who feel very similarly about Angelica, and you'll better understand what I mean when we get started. I also took a while to release this one, because I was having trouble coming up with a title, but now that I've finally thought of a title, well then, let's have at it!

Family Arrangements

Summary: Peter and Zack have a discussion about the arrangements of their friends families, but in particular, why most of the people they knew had siblings, while Angelica, always remained an only child.

Disclaimer: I do not own the original Rugrats characters, they're the property of their original creaters. I own any OC's you don't recognize, like Zack, while Peter is owned by TCKing12, and for purposes of an imaginary spot in this story, the OC of Madison belongs to Sofia2017Planning.

Location: Peter's castle of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia

It was a typical day for Zack and Peter as Zack had recently been let out of preschool for the afternoon, and the two-year-old blond, as he started school much earlier than most kids because of his advanced intelegence, spent the afternoon at Peter's castle, waiting for his aunt to get off of work. The two of them sat together at the kitchen table, having a lunch of some cheese pizza and orange juice, when Zack brought up an interesting question.

"You know Peter, I was just thinking about our friends." Zack said in between bites of his first slice of cheese pizza.

"Yeah, what about them?" Peter asked, taking a sip of his orange juice.

"Well, I was thinking about how most of our friends, or rather, the people we know, have siblings. I mean, Tommy has a younger brother Dil, Chuckie has a little sister Kimi, Susie has two older brothers and an older sister, and Phil and Lil, being twins, always have each other to play with. And while I personally feel that grumpy, bratty old Angelica, doesn't deserve any brothers and sisters, ironically, I couldn't help but think how true this fact has remained. Is it true that if you treat others younger than you with disrespect, you automatically, end up an only child forever?" Zack asked.

Peter let out a little chuckle at the blond boy's comment.

"Zachary, I know you're quite little, even though you are very smart for your age, but there's more to having siblings than your personality. It has more so to do with the parents. With Tommy and Dil, Didi gave birth to both of her boys. Like you said, with Phil and Lil being twins, they came together, always having one another to play with and love, and Chuckie gained a little sister Kimi when his father married Kimi's mother post our trip to Paris. And yes, Susie is the youngest of four kids in her family, but with Angelica, hmmm, should I tell you this?" Peter said.

"Tell me what?" Zack asked with a mouth full of pizza.

"Now Zachary, don't talk with your mouth full." Peter scolded.

Zack chewed and swallowed the bite of pizza in his mouth before responding.

"Sorry Peter." Zack apologized.

"It's okay Zack. Well, there was one time a long time ago, after I knew the gang but before Dil was born when Angelica's mother thought she was pregnant with her second child. She arranged to have an official test with her doctor to confirm the pregnancy test she took at home, and while Angelica's father went on and told her the good news of her mother having a baby, she wasn't too thrilled about it." Peter said.

"I'm not surprised, but what happened? Did Angelica's mommy have a miscarriage or something?" Zack asked.

"Well I do know that Angelica had one horrible nightmare about her future baby brother, being the size of a monster, and being worried she'd be ignored and have to live in the laundry room, but turns out Charlotte was never pregnant after all. The test she took proved to be false, and while she was sad at first, I honestly don't believe they really wanted a second child in the first place. I mean, Drew and Charlotte are very busy with their work as it is, that Angelica is dumped into my care or the care of her aunt and uncle half of the time, or Taffy if I can't watch the kids these days, and secretly, I've always wondered if Drew and Charlotte even planned on having Angelica, or if it was one of those, unplanned pregnancies." Peter said.

"Have you ever asked them?" Zack asked.

"Zachary my boy, that's a very personal question that you don't just walk up to a set of parents and ask. And Drew and Charlotte can be very sensitive people, I wouldn't want to make them feel uncomfortable, so no, as a polite king of royalty, I've never, and will never, ask them this question that could possibly lead to discomfort between us." Peter said, taking another sip of his orange juice.

"Well, how did Angelica feel when she found out her mommy wasn't going to have a baby? Was she thrilled?" Zack asked.

"Well, yes, she was. She's never admitted it to her mom and dad, but I saw her later that same day her mom got the news she wasn't having a baby after all, and Angelica told me when we were by ourselves how happy she was to remain being an only child. Though I then always wondered if that was the case, then why did she try to take the bird's egg Tommy found a while back in his backyard that he thought was his baby brother Milton, brought to him by the stork, and claiming it to be her baby sister?" Peter said, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Zack asked, also raising an eyebrow, as all of what Peter was talking about, happened with his friends way before he ever knew them.

"Well, after I met the gang, Angelica, being a curious little three-year-old, asked her parents where babies came from. Being a bit too young to try to explain to her what really happened, her parents told her the story of how babies come from stork eggs, claiming that a stork is a big ugly bird with feathers. Of course, she then goes and tells Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, and, well you know just as well as I do Zack how gullable our friends can be." Peter explained.

"So let me guess, Tommy got the idea to go out into the backyard, find a bird's egg and try to hatch his own baby brother." Zack said.

"Wow Zachary you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what happened. Of course, I was busy helping Stu and Drew make the biggest omlet in the world to really pay much attention to what was going on, but seeing I could understand the babies as clear as day, I heard the whole thing, including when Tommy climbed up to rescue the egg from our bowl of eggs, asking his friends if they'd think he wouldn't know his own brother. Later that night, when we finally sat down to eat dinner after the Carmichaels arrived, Didi explained how the baby bird hatched inside the house, and gave all of us adults a long lecture of how we shouldn't leave the backdoor open, unattended. I just rolled my eyes at her, and told her I was innocent, but I honestly believe the only reason why Angelica took the egg to be her little sister, and I knew this as remember, I heard everything that was going on in the living room and backyard, even though I was busy helping to prepare the omlet, well, I know Angelica likes to spoil the fun of the babies to get her own way, so while truthfully, she never wanted a sibling, she didn't want her cousin to have a sibling either." Peter said.

"Ah, makes a lot of sense." Zack said, taking the last bite of his pizza and washing it down with some orange juice.

"However, I do know for a fact that Drew and Charlotte aren't interested in having anymore kids, as it came up when Angelica did long for a brother or sister." Peter said.

Zack sat up on the edge of his chair, staring at Peter in shock.

"What? Tell me more! Was she finally jealous of Tommy after Dil was born, begging her parents to have another baby?" Zack asked.

"Actually, more like after we got back from Paris, and both, Tommy and Chuckie had younger siblings. We all went to this amusement park place to have fun and get some family photos taken. The photographer, who was dressed as a clown, much to Chuckie's dismay, was trying to be exciting to the kids, prompting the brothers and sisters to get together in the picture. Angelica then explained to the nice man who everybody was, when it finally hit her for the first time, she was now the only child there without a sibling." Peter explained.

"Wow, so what happened?" Zack asked.

"Well Angelica begged her dad to get her a little brother or sister right then, but he reminded her that babies are a lot of work, as getting pregnant isn't easy, and it takes several months for the baby to develop inside the mom before they're born." Peter explained.

"So how do you know for sure that Angelica's parents didn't want another baby then?" Zack asked.

"Well, you could tell in the toen of Drew's voice with Angelica that he didn't appreciate her bringing up this topic. I honestly don't know if he was still upset about the failed pregnancy test that Charlotte took eons ago when Angelica had that horrible nightmare, or what, but he was very firm with Angelica, and would just, rather not discuss it. Though I personally know that while Charlotte was sad at first that her pregnancy test was false, by the following day, she was so busy with work as usual, that she had more or less, put the whole thing behind her." Peter said.

"So after Angelica's daddy pretty much, lay down the line, what happened next?" Zack asked.

"Well Angelica then tried to get your little friends to be her siblings, in particular, Tommy, Chuckie, and Kimi. She never bothered with Dil, probably because he was too little to be of interest to her, nor did she bother with Phil and Lil, probably because they'd either argue over who got to go first, or, she'd have to take both of them, and she didn't wish to have two younger siblings, just one, but in the end, well, Tommy, Chuckie and Kimi didn't work out, and while they decided to think of her as an older sister because she bosses them around like a big sister, mainly to cheer her up, I know truthfully, she's still just, Tommy and Dil's cousin, and the bossy pest that's around to bug the rest of the gang. They did all get a picture taken together though, and at least Angelica was cheered up in the end." Peter said, reaching into a pocket of his gray Confederate uniform and pulling out one of the photographs of everybody taken together on that day at the amusement park place.

Zack studied the picture Peter was holding in his hand for a few minutes, noticing how happy everybody was, when a thought came to him.

"You know Peter, I don't know if this ever occurred to you, but I honestly feel that while Angelica getting a younger brother or sister would be a blessing in disguise for us, I'd pitty the poor little baby who got stuck with Angelica as a sister forever." Zack said.

"You're right Zack, if Angelica ever did get a sibling, which I'm pretty sure is never going to happen now, she'd have no reason to pick on you or your friends anymore, though as her babysitter, she'd still be a pain in my neck." Peter muttered.

"Yeah, and I would hate to see what would happen to the poor baby who ended up in Angelica's rath forever." Zack said, leaning back in his chair at the table and closing his eyes, imagining how it all might go.

In Zack's imagination, he invisions Angelica's room. Her golden princess bed and toys have all been moved to one side of the room, still with its purple walls and pink carpet, while on the other side of the room, stood a changing table and a white crib. Inside the crib lay a tiny baby girl who started crying. The five-year-old blond was instantly out of her bed in a flash, running over to the crib, a look of anger on her face.

"All right Madison listen up! Since I'm the big sister in this room, you'd better get a few things straight." Angelica yelled loudly, shaking the bars of Madison's crib.

She stopped crying immediately, staring up at her big sister with a terrified look on her face.

"Firstest of all, I'm the boss of this room, so not only is everything in this room mine, and you may never, ever, play with my toys, but no crying allowed. Got it?" Angelica snapped.

"Uh huh?" Madison replied hesitantly, before closing her eyes and falling back to sleep.

Angelica breathed a sigh of relief, as she trudged back over to her bed, curled back up under the covers and snuggled up with Cynthia.

"Ah, that's so much better Cynthia." Angelica whispered to her doll, before going back to sleep.

A year has passed, and Zack imagines Madison, now one-years-old, being nothing more than a slave to the now six-year-old Angelica. Bringing her arm loads of cookies on command, and trying to carry a cup of apple juice up the stairs, only to spill it before she can reach the top. Angelica walks out of the bedroom and sees the mess on the carpeted stairs.

"Just look at this mess drooly. I told you I wanted my juice in a cup, not all over the stairs! Now go get me another cup of juice, and this time, don't spill any of it!" Angelica yelled.

"Okay Big Sister Angelica, Queen of Toyland." Madison said with a reluctant sigh, heading back down the stairs, only to slip on the wet spot of juice and fall down to the bottom.

The one-year-old let out a huge cry, but in the other room, Charlotte can be heard on her phone with Jonathan, too busy to care. The six-year-old blond rushes down the stairs, nearly shaking the house with her loud stomping, only making Madison scream in terror.

"Shut up you dumb baby!" Angelica screamed, getting her father's attention, who comes rushing to the bottom of the stairs.

"What happened here princess?" Drew asked, picking up the screaming child, trying to comfort her.

Angelica, feeling neglected and left out, slumps down on one of the steps, looking dejected.

Later, Zack imagines him and his friends, along with Madison sitting together in Tommy and Dil's sandbox, Angelica, no longer in sight because she's off at school.

"Wanna build sandcastles with us Madison?" Tommy asked.

Madison let out a huge yawn.

"No thanks, I just, wanna go take my nappy now." Madison replied.

"But it's not nappy time yet." Kimi explained.

"I know, but seems I'm always tired." Madison said in between yawns.

"How come?" Zack asked.

"Well, when you've gots a biggerer sister like Angelica, you never get to have fun. It's always, get me cookies, brush Cynthia's hair, and don't touch my playhouse, it's mine! If I make a mess, I have to clean it up. And if I cry, I'm referred to as, well, a cry baby. It's no fun always being yelled at or bossed around all of the time." Madison explained, standing up from the sandbox to head back inside the house.

"I hear ya Madison, I don't care much for Angelica neither. At least I'm not her little brother, oh boy, I don't even wanna think about that." Chuckie said nervously, placing some more sand into his bucket with his shovel.

"Consider yourself lucky Chuckie." Madison said, before toddling slowly into the house, barely able to walk from being overly tired.

Once she was gone, the other toddlers exchanged glances, feeling just terrible for poor Madison, as Zack's thoughts flashed forward to when Madison was in Miss Weamer's preschool class.

Dil, who was also in her class, came running over to where she was happily building a block tower, finally able to have some freedom to be a kid without the rath of her older sister bugging her, when Dil crashed into her block tower, knocking it over by accident. Angered by this, the little girl got up, approached Dil, and bit him hard on his arm.

"Ow! That hurt!" Dil cried.

Madison just stood back and laughed. While she never appreciated her older sister's violence, because of being exposed to her bullyings for so long since birth, it in turn, rubbed off on her, and Miss Weamer was very disappointed when she came over to see what had happened.

"What happened here?" Miss Weamer asked.

"She bit me." Dil said in between tears, pointing to the bite mark on his arm and pointing over at Madison, who still had a smile on her face.

Miss Weamer turned her attention towards Madison, looking extremely disappointed.

"Did you do this Madison Pickles?" Miss Weamer asked.

"My big sister Angelica does stuff like this all of the time." Madison replied.

Of course, Miss Weamer wasn't surprised by this one bit, seeing she had previously had to deal with the little blond brat in her class quite a few years ago. And now, here it was again, dealing with her younger sister.

"We do not bite people do you understand? We use our words. You'd better go sit in the corner and think about it for a while." Miss Weamer scolded.

Madison stood up with her hands on her hips, a determined look on her face.

"Madison Pickles does not do time out." Madison protested.

"Now!" Miss Weamer scolded, grabbing Madison's hand and leading her over to the time out chair.

Later, now in Angelica and Madison's backyard, everybody is happily playing in the grass with a ball, when Angelica comes out, upset she can't watch TV because the remote is missing.

"Madison, I need you to find the TV clicker and I need it now." Angelica scolded.

"But, I'm playing with my friends!" Madison cried, holding up the infamous blue, green, and orange star ball as it had rolled to her in the grass.

"Now!" Angelica screamed, snatching the ball out of her sister's hands and throwing it across the yard.

"Uh, you know, Angelica, you really shouldn't treat your sister like that." Tommy said.

Zack nodded his head in agreement.

"Listen up shorty, nobody tells me how to treat my little sister, got it? And if you ever give me advice on how to be a better big sister again, you're gonna regret it. Besides, up until your brother had his firstest birthday, he was nothing but a boring blob of nothingness, all because you, Pickles, babied him and didn't push him, claiming he'd just, do stuff when he gotted olderer, and then, he still had trouble even as a big baby, cuz you didn't do what big brothers and sisters are spose to do." Angelica scolded.

"But Angelica…" Tommy started to say before his cousin stopped him, grabbing the front of his shirt so he couldn't move.

"Maybe if you had been a bit bossier and tougher on your baby brother, he wouldn't have been such a boring blob for so long, not doing nothing interesting till he turned a-year-old. Thanks to me, I've got the bestest little sister anybody could ever ask for. Now watch, and learn." Angelica said, letting go of the front of Tommy's shirt and heading off to deal with Madison, who decided to pick some flowers, nearly forgetting what Angelica wanted in the first place.

Angry, the blond charged up behind her little sister, snatching the flowers out of her hands and ripping them to shreds in front of her. Madison sank down to the grass and started crying.

"What's your problem? You're spose to be looking for the TV clicker not picking flowers! A Very Cynthia Easter will be on any minute now!" Angelica scolded.

"But I like these flowers, I wanted to give them to aunt Didi and Peter." Madison cried.

"Peter's a king, he can get flowers whenever he wants. And why would you wanna do anything nice for aunt Didi. All she ever does is hide the cookie jar and make me eat spinach." Angelica growled.

"Cuz she's nice." Madison wimpered.

"Well I don't care! Now, get in there and find the clicker before I do something really bad to you." Angelica screamed, causing her poor little sister to run away in terror.

She ran into the open door of the house into the living room, where she stepped on a Cynthia car, sending the three-year-old girl flying across the room, till she hit her head hard on a bookcase, knocking her out cold. Overhearing all of the commotion, Peter came in to see what had happened. Worried, he dialed 911 and had Madison rushed off to the hospital.

Turns out, the poor child suffered from some serious brain damage that left her in a coma for a very long time. Six months later, she died.

"You know Peter, after thinking about it, I better see why it's best that Angelica always remain, an only child." Zack said, coming out of his thoughts and staring at Peter across from him at the kitchen table.

"Why, because Angelica's too much of a brat to handle it?" Peter asked.

"Well, that, and, for the child's sake. I mean, sure, we don't care for her bullying us all of the time, but at least we get a break from it all. Even if Angelica would no longer have a reason to pick on us no more, allowing us to live happy lives, I'd continue to feel bad for her younger sibling, constantly getting bullied, and never getting a break. Yes Peter, as much as it pains me to say it, it's better off that Angelica remain an only child, continuing to torment us as a result of being envious of most of us having brothers and sisters, while she remains that spoiled rotton only child, for all eternity." Zack said, wiping his mouth off with his napkin and standing up from the table to go wash his hands.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Peter said, standing up from his place at the table and heading in the same direction as Zack, to also go wash his hands, which were covered in cheese.

The End

Author's Note: Well, I hope you all enjoyed that story, and the explanation of why Angelica would always remain an only child from the perspective of two OC's who despise her very much. It's also true. If she had gotten a sibling on the series, she'd have no reason to bully the other babies anymore, ruining her character on the show, because she'd more or less, have her own personal baby brother or sister to push around. Not only that, but for this reason, she wouldn't have any reason to be jealous of the other babies anymore, and her poor sibling would suffer as a result. I also made some references in this story, those being the season 4 episode, 'Chanukah,' where Angelica wanted to watch A Very Cynthia Christmas, only since I wanted to make Zack's imaginary thoughts take place at one point in the spring, I changed the title to the special Angelica wanted to watch at this point, to being A Very Cynthia Easter, and I also made reference to the season 3 Rugrats episodes, 'The Stork,' and 'Angelica's Worst Nightmare,' and the season 7 episode, 'Sister Act,' and Angelica's comment about having the cookie jar hidden from her and being made to eat spinach was a reference to the season 6 episode, 'Cave Babies,' and her comment to Tommy about Dil and claiming he's been too soft, nice, and in her opinion, weak as an older brother, hince, why Dil never did anything interesting, was a reference to how boring and uninteresting Dil was as a whole during his entire existence on Rugrats, versus how much more he became developed, once I started releasing stories on Fan Fiction, aging him up a bit, giving him more of a personality and character, because he was bigger, and could actually do more things. Being an older sister to a little girl who takes orders from her on command would obviously make Angelica stand up and claim how much better her sister was in comparison to Dil, all because she bossed her around and showed her no mercy, not caring that she traumatized the poor child for life. Thankfully, it was all in Zack's imagination, and I must say, a very realistic perspective indeed in my opinion. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it, and be looking for more stories, coming soon!


End file.
